Friday, January 6, 2017

As part of their vision to promote fairness, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) attends to the specific needs of persons with disabilities to give them an equal chance to pass the test as those examinees that do not have health concerns or conditions.

Test takers, regardless whether they have disabilities or none, are encouraged to join TOEFL review centers in the Philippines to prepare them for the exam. These facilities provide assessment exercises and training materials to gauge the students’ English language proficiency and to enhance their skills, respectively. For example, TOEFL review centers in Davao encourage students to participate in practical tests and engage in feedback sessions.

Examinees can choose between the TOEFL paper-based test (PBT) or the Internet-based test (iBT). However, the TOEFL PBT test is only available to places where the iBT is unavailable. If test takers with disabilities choose to take the iBT, they will be provided with various accommodations:

They must also submit all the required forms. • Registration form *Depends on the test taker’s • Testing Accommodations Request Form (9)• Certificate of Eligibility or Disability Documentation. *Only one of these documents may be submitted.

It takes approximately six weeks for requests to be processed. Thus, test takers who would like to take advantage of the accommodations should send their request(s) as soon as possible.

These accommodations ensure test takers with disabilities that they will be able to answer the TOEFL iBT test without worries. Nowadays, tutoring facilities take note of the needs of their students. There are, in fact, TOEFL review centers in the Philippines that attend to the requirements of students with disabilities. (There are TOEFL review centers in Davao, Baguio, Makati and other key cities.)

Overall, test takers with disabilities need not worry of their condition. They only need to accomplish several documents to avail of TOEFL iBT’s accommodations.